Former St. John’s assistant coach Steve DeMeo is suing the school, alleging he was fired because 🐬of a serꦰious health condition.
In an explosive federal lawsuit obtained by The Post, DeMeo is accusing coach Mike Anderson and St. John’s of terminating him due to a heart prꦑoblem called mitral valve prolapse, which required surgery in August 2020.
In the process, DeMꦫeo’s lawsuit has aired some of the program’s dirty laundry, claiming that Anderson, the reigning Big East Coach of the Yearไ, lost control of the team at the end of the season.
After this past campaign, DeMeo needed more medical procedures. On June 8, he was let go and replaced by Greg “Shoes” Vetrone on Anderson’s staff. DeMeo also contends he hasn’t been paid for accrued vacation𝕴 days.
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“The fact he was terminated in June rather than during the normal time when terminations would be made raises the question of why would he be terminated at this unusual time,” DeMeo’s attorney, David Gottlieb, told The Post in a phone interview. “What changed between the end of the regular season and the termination? The only thing that changed was he told Coach Anderson he had these🅰 medical conditions [that required additional treatment].”
In a performance review in May, DeMeo told Anderson about needing more time off for health reasons, and the suit alleges theꦗ coach turne🎀d on him.
According to DeMeo, Anderson told hi🐷m: “Well, you have a job to do, you have to do it.”
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DeMeo and Anderson didn’t see eye to eye when it came to recruiting. DeMeo, in the lawsuit, listed several players he tried to recruit who Anderson didn’t feel were good enough for St. John’s. In his two seasons at the Queens university, DeMeo played an active role in recruiting junior college transfer Isaih Moore and incoming Vermont graduate transfer Stef Smith. Moore transferred after his one a﷽nd only season at St. John’s.
“Steve feels terribly mistreated, not only being terminated, but the timing of the termination,” Gottlieb said. “He was put in a position where it would☂ be very difficult to 🐽find another job. The purpose of the lawsuit is to hold them accountable to what they did.”
A Queens native who has also coached at Division I programs Iona, Providence𒊎 and Hofstra, DeMeo recently laꦫnded a job as an assistant coach at East Carolina.
Also in the suit, DeMeo took aim at issues under Anderson’s watch. He claimed 🍸St. John’s did not closely adhere to COVID-19 safety protocols, alth🙈ough the team avoided any pauses and no players tested positive for the virus during the season.
He also revealed a dispute between Anderson and Moore during the regular-season finale against Seton Hall. Anderson wanted to throw Moore off the team, but DeMeo said in the suit the team was ready to revolt, and Anderson relented. Multiple sources denied DeMeo’s version of events that day. The erratic Moore, it should be noted, was suspended earlier in the season f𝐆or failing to live up to team standards.
“St. John’s University and Coach Mike Anderson categorically deny Steve DeMeo’s allegations of wrongdoing, but cannot otherwise comment on pending litigation,” the sc🐼hool said in a statement.
DeMeo also alleged the team did not want to play for Anderson, and that was the reason St. John’s passed on the NIT — not the school’s stated reason of the demands of COVID-19 protocol in the NIT bubble. The sources said the team vꦉoted against playing in 💞the NIT, as other Big East schools, such as Seton Hall and Xavier, also did.
Altogether, eight players transferred out of the program, which the suit referred to as evidence that Anderson was unable to connect with the players. It did not mention the 🤡new NCAA transfer rule that allows players to switch schools once without sitting out, which led 💝to skyrocketing transfer numbers.
The Red Storm’s 🐷t♏wo best players — Julian Champagnie and Posh Alexander — did return, and St. John’s is projected to have its best team in several years after landing several significant transfers.